Current Affairs Weekly Updates – January Week II

AWARDS AND HONORS

APPOINTMENTS

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

• The UIDAI has introduced a new concept of ‘Virtual ID’ which Aadhaar-card holder can generate from its website and give for various purposes, including SIM verification, instead of sharing the actual 12-digit biometric ID.
• The health ministry is set to roll out a National Programme for Control of Viral Hepatitis from the 2018-19 financial year, for which a budget of Rs 600 crore for the next three years has been approved.
• Indian Railways continues to take steps based on new technology to facilitate execution of its various activities.
• In a major digital initiative to help plan the traffic flows and optimize freight operations, Ministry of Railways have launched Smart Freight Operation Optimisation & Real Time Information (SFOORTI) App
• India has contributed USD 50,000 to the UN’s youth mission which works to raise awareness and attention to youth issues globally.
• Microsoft Accelerator has partnered with Accenture Ventures to help scale B2B (businesses catering to businesses) startups in national and international markets.
• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has announced the addition of facial recognition-based authentication for Aadhaar users, especially those who have problems with other forms of biometric verification such as fingerprint or iris.
• The Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has launched month long Saksham 2018 (Sanrakshan Kshamta Mahotsav).

NEWS IN STATES

• India’s fastest supercomputer with “multi-petaflops” was dedicated to nation in Pune. The supercomputer has been installed at the High Performance Computing (HPC) facility at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
• A string of butterfly parks, providing natural habitat for beautiful flying insects that is getting endangered, will soon play as ‘eco-monitors’ in Kerala.
• The state government has banned even e-cigarette in Bihar. E-cigarette is smoked through electronics nicotine delivery system (ENDS) for nicotine intake.
• Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) is likely to generate about 1,50,000 metric tonnes (MT) of e-waste per annum by 2020 from the current level of 85,000 metric tonnes, according to industry body Assocham.
• The 4th Annual Women Leadership Summit will be held at IIM-Bangalore on January 13, 2018. Organised by the student-run Women in Management Club (WIM) of IIM-Bangalore.
• Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) is likely to generate about 1,50,000 metric tonnes (MT) of e-waste per annum by 2020 from the current level of 85,000 metric tonnes, according to industry body Assocham.
• The Fourth ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry (AIMMAF) was held on 12 January 2018 in New Delhi. 
• The iconic Teen Murti Chowk has been renamed after the Israeli City Haifa, a year after the plan was put on hold by the NDMC.
• The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated the International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI).
• Haryana has achieved the distinction of becoming the first state in the country to launch High Risk Pregnancy (HRP) Portal.
• Haryana government is contemplating implementation of an insurance scheme in the health sector for the people of the state.
• For the first time, Haryana claimed to have logged the highest ever sex ratio of 914 girls against 1,000 boys in 2017. It was 900 in 2016 and 876 in 2015. 
• Devendra Fadnavis have laid the foundation stone for an international cruise terminal at Ballard Pier, Mumbai.

CABINET APPROVALS

• The Union Cabinet has approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Canada for cooperation in the field of Science & Technology.
• The Cabinet has approved the closure of Tungabhadra Steel Products Ltd (TSPL). The decision also allowed the name of the company to be struck off from the Registrar of Companies after settling balance liabilities of TSPL.

BANKING AND FINANCE

• Ola, the taxi hailing app, has tied up with ICICI Bank to provide a range of integrated offers, including micro-credit to their customers and digital payment facilities to driver partners, respectively.
• IndusInd Bank and Dynamics Inc have announced plans to introduce the first battery-powered, interactive payment cards in the Indian market in 2018.
• Flipkart’s payments arm PhonePe has partnered mobile wallet company FreeCharge to allow the latter’s customers pay for transactions at PhonePe’s partner merchants.
• State-run Bank of Maharashtra, which under the prompt corrective action of the Reserve Bank due to very high bad loans, and Aviva Life Insurance have entered into a corporate agency arrangement to distribute the latter’s products.
• Federal Bank has entered into a strategic partnership with Hedge Equities for providing portfolio investment scheme (PIS) services to NRIs.
• The National Company Law Tribunal has approved the proposed merger between Idea Cellular and Vodafone — a move that brings both the companies closer to culminating the deal.

MERGER AND ACQUISITION

• The boards of directors of IDFC Bank and Capital First has approved a merger of Capital First with IDFC Bank.
• The National Company Law Tribunal has approved the proposed merger between Idea Cellular and Vodafone — a move that brings both the companies closer to culminating the deal.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

• A Saudi private company has opened the first car showroom for women only just five months before a decision allowing females to drive takes effect.
• Saudi Arabia has allowed women to attend a men’s football match for the first time from a sports stadium.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

• India and Israel have inked nine pacts in key areas, including cyber security and oil & gas sectors amid PM Narendra Modi’s call to Israel firms to take advantage of the liberalised FDI regime in the defence sector that would boost Make in India initiative.
• India and Sri Lanka have signed four agreements for collaboration in ICT sector, setting up of e-office system and connecting of National Knowledge network (NKN) for collaboration among universities and academics.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Intel CEO Brian Krzanich showed off the Volocopter, an autonomous passenger drone at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018.
• India has launched ISRO’s 100th satellite along with 30 others in a single mission on January 12 from Sriharikota, in a milestone event in the country’s space history.

DEFENCE NEWS

• Indian Coast Guard Ship C-161 was commissioned on Friday at Porbandar in Gujarat. The induction is a part of ongoing efforts by the Coast Guard to strengthen coastal security.
• The Indian Navy has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) towards leasing of 228 metres of berths, Q2 and Q3 at Mattancherry Wharf for a period of five years.
• Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cleared two procurement proposals. These missiles are surface to air missiles designed to be used as a ship-borne anti-missile defence system against anti-ship missiles.

SPORTS

• Bahrain has unveiled plans to stage the first ever Baby Olympics in April, where medals will be contested by two to four year-olds, in a bid to promote the Olympic principles and exercise at a young age.

OBITUARY

IMPORTANT DAYS

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